Which Socket Brand or Brands if Starting From Scratch?

[AL`]

Curious what the OP decided to go with after all was said and done.

 

[BWWgarage]

My best friend had all of his tools stolen recently by some low life dirt bag or bags. They pretty much cleaned out his garage. He works as an electrical Best Boy on movie sets and his toolboxes and tools are part of his compensation package as kit rentals. They are used by all the electricians working on set. A few years ago he gave me a very expensive weight set that my son uses five days a week. My friend was asking my advice on some brands and I mentioned that I had plenty of excess tools and would like to give him some as kind of a payback. While going through my stuff I decided to just give him pretty much all of my non-impact sockets in addition to plenty of wrenches, various pliers, screwdrivers etc etc. The sockets are 90% USA Craftsman from the mid 80's - 90's. I had been looking at upgrading anyway and decided that now is a good time. I'm looking at either satin or chrome in 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 drive. I will need regular and deep well up to about 1 1/4" and 32mm. I'm good on ratchets, extensions, swivels, torx etc. Brands I'm considering are Proto, Wright, USA Williams, Koken or Hazet. I'm ok with any USA, German or Japanese brand in case there is one I missed. Not really looking at Snap-On for sockets because the value quotient is not there for my usage A mixture is fine too. I mostly work on cars, trucks, dirt bikes and mountain bikes. Thank you.

James

What did you end up getting?

 

[kngelv]

Sorry for not updating. Koken for 1/4” and 3/8“ with Proto for 1/2”. A mix of Koken, Snap-On and Wright ratchets too.

James

 

[skulldrinker]

Craftsman has a ratchet and socket set (no wrenches or other stuff). 300 pc or so. I'd start there and add on.

 

[skulldrinker]

Yeah I'd start with this.

 

[CGarage]

That is a great price for the Craftsman set above. Are the sockets from Taiwan or China? I hope Taiwan.

 

[ecotec]

If I was starting with nothing and did not have an imminent need, I would look at truck (Snap-on, Cornwell, Matco and MAC) and industrial brands (Wright, SK, Bonney, Williams, Proto…) from garage/estate sales and flea markets.

Ideally, I like to pay around 10% or less of the retail prices. Obviously, gas and time make the real price higher.

On a long enough time line, you will have a ludicrous amount of the commonly found tools.

Once you figure out what the common tools are, you put the vast majority of your budget towards what you are not finding.

I live in a manufacturing area of a manufacturing metro area. There are a lot of chances to find cheap tools here. This, obviously, may not be true where you live. Another note would be that there are more pickers today than in years past. I started upgrading my tools from these sales about 16 years ago, and it was easier then. I have been building off the spoils of my first honey hole estate sale ever since.

 

[turnthewrench 2.0]

Tekton

 

[Gangly]

Milwaukee has come out with excellent sockets, wrenches, flexible heads, etc. They are not as much as SnapOn, but they are pricey. The quality is worth it though, and I would put most of their hand tools up against any other manufacturer for overall quality and value.

 

[micromind]

I would go with either Wright or Tekton.

As much as I like Wright, Tekton is looking pretty good too. I don't think they're as tough as Wright (almost nothing is......) but the Wright sockets vary in length where the Tektons are all the same....well, the 1/4 and 3/8 models are.

Call me strange but I like my sockets to be the same length with the same type.

 

[CGarage]

I like the Tekton warranty, customer support, and no socket size skips.

 

[Vvmvbb]

Wera are the sexiest